Will Love Conquer All?
by Lotty1995
Summary: Alison may have won the battle but can Paige win the war? (4x23)


**This is my version of what should have happened in the 4x23 bathroom scene. I'm Paige all the way so that's why its in favour of Paige. I don't think that they gave enough time for Paige to reason her decision so I did. Hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to review if you want more because I'm not sure where to take this.**

* * *

"This isn't about revenge!" Paige exclaimed.

Emily turns back to face Paige. "Really? She's been in hiding for two years from somebody who tried to kill her, and by you outing her to the cops, you just sent out a search party." Emily said. "Seems like revenge to me."

"Revenge. You seem to think that it all comes back to revenge. I don't need revenge, Emily."

Emily scoffed. "Yeah, seems like it Paige. C'mon it's just us; I know what Alison did to you and you getting one over her makes perfect sense."

"Getting one over her" Paige laughed "I don't need one over on her Emily. Look at her and then look at me. Where is she? How do you think she feels? Apparently someone is out to kill her; so she's scared, alone, vulnerable... probably desperate right. Then there's me. I'm here, at school with friends. I have my family. I'm going to Stanford to swim, to do the thing I love. I don't need to have one over her, she's in hiding Emily. I don't need revenge, she did it all herself."

"Is that how you see it? You're right she's scared and alone. She needs my help." Emily shouted.

Paige looked down. "Help? When you needed help, did she come running?" She returned her gaze back to Emily "She only comes to you when she needs something and then she's off again. Hit and run. She causes a situation and then you're left here to pick up the pieces. It never works out in your favour."

"That's not how it works, Paige" Emily whispered.

"Really Emily, really?" Paige questioned.

"Paige..." Emily breathed.

Paige shook her head, "No Emily, you need to hear this. All the time it's Alison this, Alison that. We're in a relationship Emily. Me and you. But it always will come back to Alison, right? Alison needs you to do this, Alison needs help to keep hidden right? Do you even remember that I'm here half of the time? Because it feels like you don't."

"Of course I do."

"It doesn't feel that way Emily. I see it all the time. You and the girls talking about things, things about A and Alison. I want to help, I want to be that person you turn to when you need help but I'll never be that person right because for some strange reason you can't trust me. After everything that's happened I thought that you knew I would do anything to help you, to protect you. I would give up my life for you, without hesitation. And then I think what if the roles were reversed and I'm not completely sure you would do the same. Because in my mind it would come down to you having to choose; and Emily we all know who you would choose, right? I would be collateral damage right. Wrong place, wrong time." Paige said.

Emily stared at Paige, "It would never come to that, Paige"

Paige laughed, "It will always end like that Emily. If it's not me then it will be someone else. A doesn't play nice Emily. Someone is bound to get hurt, people have already been hurt. And knowing that you keep things from me, that hurts. I've been through a lot in my life; and don't get me wrong I would do it all again in a heartbeat but there's some things that make you question yourself." Paige sighed "I know when you started keeping secrets from me and that's the day I started to question myself."

"Why?" Emily questioned.

"Because I can't protect you anymore. You don't let me and who am I if I can't protect my own girlfriend. I can't protect you because I know nothing. Nothing, Emily. I don't know who the enemy is, I don't know who to trust and who not to. How can I protect you when I am thinking that every face I look at is one that wants to see you four girls dead? The only thing I could do was tell the police, Emily; because they know more than me. They can protect you better than I ever could."

"The police, Paige. You could have gone to anyone?" Emily said, sounding angry.

"You're right, Em. I could have gone to anyone because they all knew. Could have had a good old chat with Toby or caught the bus to Ravenswood and had a catch up with Caleb? Or Shauna because we all know how much you love her? Everyone knew but me. Because Spencer trusted Toby and Hanna trusted Caleb. Maybe I should have just asked Spencer or Hanna or Aria but guess what Emily. I'm not dating any of them, you should have told me because I needed to know about all this, I needed to know."

"Paige I understand. I haven't exactly been the best girlfriend and I should have told you. It's not because I don't trust you. It's all Alison, you and her never really saw eye to eye. All the things she did to you, I didn't want to be the one to tell you she was alive. So I kept it quiet, I had to; we don't know who A is and I couldn't risk exposing that kind of information to A." Emily said.

"Didn't realise I was such a risk" Paige muttered.

Emily stepped closer to Paige "You're not, you are never a risk. But how could I tell you that your bully is alive? It would destroy you and I couldn't be the one to do that. I couldn't crush you Paige. Obviously I have gone down the wrong road, I should have told you sooner and I shouldn't have lied. You're right, everyone knew but you and that's horrible to hear. I'm sorry about that and I was going to tell you but things kept building up but Paige, Alison needed our help. I had to help her."

"I understand that. You have a past with her; it's really a past that will always be present but you were never going to tell me the truth. It didn't even cross your mind. They have been plenty of opportunities to tell but you didn't. Yes, I obviously didn't want to know that she was alive. I was shocked and angry and I felt every emotion you could think. But you still didn't tell me, I had to follow you to find out. That shows that you never were going to. I think you hoped that you could get through this whole thing without me knowing. You were never going to tell me." Paige said.

"I was going to tell you, you have to believe me." Emily said.

"You lie Emily, all the time." Paige ran a hand through her hair. "People say you can tell when people are lying to you. That's true because I see it with you. You tilt your head to the right, scrunch you eyes and avoid eye contact with me. So every time you say that you're going to study at Spencer's house or that you're going shopping with Hanna or visiting your mum at work; I know you're lying. I know that you're going off to do something dangerous and possibly life-threatening and I let you. I let you walk away because I know there is nothing I can do to stop you. You think I don't I see it, that your lies are immune to me but I see them. Guess how that makes me feel?"

Emily remained silent, staring at Paige.

"Every time you lie, it makes me question things. Like why doesn't she trust me enough to tell me what's going off? Then I think that it must be something that I have done wrong; that I did something which caused you to feel that you can't trust me. Then I realise that I didn't do anything wrong, it's that you choose to willing lie to me instead of telling me the truth."

"It was to protect you!" Emily interrupted.

"Protect me! Your lies hurt me. You don't understand. You four girls have lied more than actually telling the truth and it doesn't help anybody."

"The only way to keep you safe it to not tell you anything. We do it for the safety of others."

"Well ain't working, either way somebody gets hurt intentional or not. There's been so many times that you have walked away and I wonder if you're ever going to come back." Paige said.

"Don't talk like that."

"What? The truth. There have been so many people who walked away; Emily and they didn't come back. How can I stop myself thinking that it won't be you next?" Paige questioned.

Emily grabbed Paige's hands, "You can't think like that. You think like that and it will eat you away. I'll always come back. Sometimes it's a little bruised up but I'm back. And I know that you don't like seeing me hurt but sometimes it happens, sometimes things happen and I'm hurt but I'm alive. If you continue to think like that you'll drain yourself out with worry."

"But I'm good at that" Paige murmured.

"I know but Alison needs us. Someone is trying to kill her and we don't know why. She needs someone on her side, she needs us. We have to help her because she's a friend. No matter what has happen over the years, she now needs someone so desperately that she is contacting home. Do you understand how important that is? Whatever is happening is so bad that she needs people she knew. She needs me...us" Emily tried to cover up the slip.

Paige pulls her hands out of Emily's hands and laughs. "What! Needs you. Not Spencer or Hanna or Aria? Just you? Weren't they her friends as well? Typical she asks for you, you can't hurt anyone not intentionally. Emily, she's using you. It's obvious you won't tell anyone anything. She picked you because you two have a past, a romantic past. It's easy to manipulate those relationships."

"She needs help." Emily said.

"If she went to police four years ago, she wouldn't need you and she wouldn't need help, none this would have happened. If someone had something so bad on her, she should have just sucked it up and told the cops. Then she wouldn't have had to play possum and you guys wouldn't have nearly died multiple times."

The two girls go into silence just staring at each other, daring the other one to speak.

"One mention of Alison and you're a lovesick puppy. She has a hold on you, a hold that I can't break."

"Paige you don't know..." Emily said.

"You're right I don't know anything because you don't tell me anything. How could I know? I don't know what Alison has over you, probably never will. I understand that what you feel for Alison, you'll never feel for me."

"Paige, you don't understand what you're saying." Emily said.

"I will always try; try to be the person that can help you stop A, the person who helps you finally stop everything. My mind knows that I should just give up because you don't want me involved that if you really did you would tell me but then my heart tells me to not give up because if I did do it, if I stopped A without you telling me anything that it would show you that I can do it. That I can be trusted. It would show you that I can protect you but sometimes your head wins over your heart."

"Paige, A is strong. You wouldn't be able to do it on your own."

"I know but I thought about it. I would never be able to do it. You don't understand how much I love you. I would do anything to make sure you're safe and I'll never stop. But I'm fighting a losing battle." Paige made an attempt to leave.

"Paige..." Emily whispered, grabbing her arm.

"Just imagine what this relationship would have been like if you just told the truth." And with that, Paige turned around and walked out the door leaving Emily standing in the middle of the room.


End file.
